Reading Round-up 2013: week 30

(Yes, I’m skipping around and there are some weeks missing. During weeks 28, 31, 32, and 34 through 37, I didn’t manage to finish any books, so there won’t be any posts for those weeks. Week 38 is forthcoming, and after that I will be back on track.)

Treason’s Shore by Sherwood Smith

The Venn have retreated from Iasca Leror, but it won’t be long before they return, and stronger than ever. Inda’s homeland has no hope of defeating the Venn’s mighty navy, Iasca Leror’s military strength lies with their cavalry, not ships. So Inda, the King’s Shield, is sent to find the pirate fleet he once commanded and recruit them for the cause. But Inda will need more than that to defeat the Venn, he’ll need to find a way to convince Iasca Leror’s neighbors that it’s in their best interest to work together.

I really wasn’t expecting Iasca Leror to fall to the Venn, so the tension instead came from wondering how Inda was going to manage this particular victory, and at what cost. A question that Smith makes wonderfully complicated and emotional by presenting Inda with a solution that gives Iasca Leror a fighting chance, but puts Inda himself in conflict with the king he has sworn to obey.